After wandering around the Lanes for several days, Jinx finally remembered poor lonely Silco and decided to go back and keep him company for a few days.
Once she left, Van started repairing and upgrading Blitzcrank. If he did not fix Blitzcrank's short-circuiting problem, there was no way he could let him go back out onto the streets.
Van could not help thinking of Zeri, who had once lost control of her energy and blown up part of a street.
"Could this be because of magic too? That thing really is hard to control…"
Van removed the metal plate from Blitzcrank's belly, exposing the engine inside. The sight immediately startled him.
The engine he had originally built had been removed and replaced by a device he had never seen before.
Inside the crude outer casing of wires and mechanical tubes, a Hex crystal hovered quietly in place.
Of course, through Van's eyes, its operation was anything but quiet. Arcane energy coiled between the machinery and gears, while deep blue ripples and waves spread in every direction, producing bursts of fluctuation from time to time.
It looked frightening, but after a simple inspection, Van found that it was actually running very steadily. The energy transmission did not seem as violent as it appeared. Still, perhaps because of the engine's materials, arcane ripples would often burst out from the gears, making the interior look like a complete mess.
With things this bad inside, the only symptom on Blitzcrank was occasional short-circuiting.
"Powder made this thing?!"
Van looked up and asked Blitzcrank in surprise. Blitzcrank mechanically nodded.
"I really didn't expect that… I thought she was just a little clever and could only make small gadgets."
This energy engine alone was enough to make Van see Jinx in a new light.
After a deeper inspection, Van discovered that Blitzcrank's original gasoline fuel tank had already run dry. One glance was enough to tell him that Blitzcrank had not used any energy source besides the Hex crystal in a very long time.
"Arcane energy exists in the air… So if we had a safer, more stable Hex crystal, it would be almost like having an endless energy source?"
Hearing Jayce say it was one thing. Seeing it with his own eyes made Van's eyes light up.
One major reason Blitzcrank could not be mass-produced was his enormous energy consumption. Even after many improvements, that energy cost still made large-scale production impractical.
But if they had stable Hex crystals, and if they solved this damn short-circuiting problem, did that mean mass-producing and deploying Blitzcranks could finally be put on the agenda?
Even setting Blitzcrank aside, if something like a Hextech generator existed, many of Van's ideas that had been impossible to carry out might finally have a direction.
Thinking of that, Van almost could not resist taking Blitzcrank's engine apart to study it.
But when he looked up and saw Blitzcrank's blank, lamp-like eyes, he suddenly remembered what Jinx had said, and his heart moved.
"Hey, Blitzcrank. Do you like Powder more, or Zeri more?"
Blitzcrank had always been popular with the children, and Zeri was one of the people who liked him the most.
Hearing Van's question, a small arc of electricity sparked from Blitzcrank's head. He raised one huge finger and scratched his big iron skull, making a squeaky metallic scraping sound. Every so often, he shook his head, as if struggling with the question, or perhaps thinking it over.
Seeing Blitzcrank's oddly human, ridiculous behavior, Van's expression grew serious.
He really was considering it. He really was hesitating. Did that mean he truly had preferences and emotions of his own? How had that happened? Was this a consciousness created by the arcane?
Van looked at the glowing Hex crystal engine inside Blitzcrank and fell into thought. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly and put the metal cover back on.
He did not want to erase a conscious, emotional mind for the sake of some vague research.
He should focus on figuring out how to solve the static problem first.
…
…
Zeri was in an excellent mood today, because her outfit had finally been finished. The original vest had been redesigned into a large steampunk-style windbreaker, and Zeri was so delighted that she had been wandering around the tavern in it nonstop.
"Zeri… can you stop pacing around? You're making me dizzy."
Van looked helplessly at Zeri, who had nothing to do but kept pretending to be busy.
"Since I've been stuck in the tavern for so long, and I've got the suppressor now, can't I go out for a walk?"
"Hehe. I was just thinking I should help out more."
Zeri grinned foolishly, clearly still floating with excitement.
"I think you just want to show off."
Watching Zeri rush around, a thought suddenly flashed through Van's mind.
Zeri's suppressor restrained the magic inside her body. Blitzcrank's Hex crystal engine, in essence, was also magic.
If he built a larger suppressor, could it solve the static problem?
"Troubadour and his family have already moved to topside."
Ekko came over just then.
"Mm. Everything went well?"
"No problems. Everything's been arranged. The Enforcer in charge of registration only went through the motions."
"Oh."
Van glanced at Ekko with a teasing look and asked, "So? How did it feel going topside?"
"What do you mean, how did it feel?"
"The bright, glittering world of topside. Nothing stirred in you? When I was your age, I longed for topside so much I'd sneak up there every few days just to look around."
"Tch~ I'm not that bored. Zaun is my home."
"Huh? That's strange."
Van scratched his head. Among these children, almost none seemed to yearn for topside the way he had several years ago.
Could that also count as part of his ambition?
"Right. The stock of compound potions topside is almost gone. Borodin told me to let you know."
"So soon?"
Van frowned. According to his expectations, the topside inventory should have lasted a while longer.
"Because of the Hexgates, people from all over the world are coming in. A lot of them are very interested in this miracle healing potion, especially the Noxians… Is there any way to expand compound potion production? Maybe we can do business with the Noxians."
"I wish there were…"
Van raised his broken brow and spoke with a headache. He was not thinking about expanding the business at all. With Zaun in its current state, simply meeting internal demand would already be a blessing from Janna.
"I'll think of something later…"
While Van and Ekko were chatting, a figure Van had not seen in almost a month appeared at the tavern entrance.
"Huck?"
[End of chapter]